Journalists
Killed in 1995: 51 Confirmed
Algeria:
24Zineddine Aliou Salah, Liberté, January 6, 1995, near Blida
Aliou Salah, an investigative reporter for the independent French-language daily Liberté, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the late morning as he was leaving his home near Blida, south of Algiers. According to his colleagues, Aliou Salah's name was on a fundamentalist rebel group's death list that was displayed at mosques in Blida.
Ali Abboud, Radio Chaine 1, January 7, 1995, Birkhadem
Abboud, adjunct editor-in-chief of the state-owned, Arabic-language Radio Chaine 1, was shot in the head by unidentified assailants near his home in Birkhadem, on the southern outskirts of Algiers. He died of his wounds the next day at a military hospital without having regained consciousness.
Abdelhamid Yahiaoui, El-Chaab, January 12, 1995, Baraki, Algiers
Yahiaoui, a copy editor for the government-controlled Arabic daily El-Chaab, was abducted as he left his home in Baraki, on the outskirts of Algiers, on his way to meet a friend. The next day, his body was found about 100 meters (330 feet) from his house with two bullet wounds to the head.
Nacer Ouari, Algerian State Television, February 1, 1995, Sidi Moussa
Ouari, a journalist with state-run Algerian State Television who produced a weekly news program for the hearing-impaired, was killed in the morning near his home in Sidi Moussa, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of Algiers. One week earlier, the radical Armed Islamic Group (GIA) had issued a press release threatening to execute all journalists working for television and radio.
Djamel Ziater, El-Djoumhouria, February 17, 1995, near Oran
Ziater, a reporter with the government-run, Arabic-language daily El-Djoumhouria, was shot to death while visiting his mother's grave in the Gdiel Cemetery, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) outside the city of Oran.
Ali Boukerbache, Media-TV, March 21, 1995, near Algiers
Boukerbache, owner of the private production company Media-TV, was shot to death in his car at an intersection between Dergana and Rouiba, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of Algiers, as he was driving to Media-TV's offices. The company had recently produced a documentary about women and terrorism.
Mohamed Abderrahmani, El-Moudjahid, March 27, 1995, Algiers
Abderrahmani, director of the government-run, French-language daily El-Moudjahid, was killed after unidentified assailants sprayed his car with bullets when he stopped at a traffic light on his way to work. Abderrahmani died of his wounds before arriving at the hospital.
Rachida Hammadi, Algerian State Television, March 31, 1995, Algiers
On March 20, Rachida Hammadi, a well-known investigative reporter for Algerian State Television, and her sister, Houriya Hammadi, a secretary for the television station, were gunned down by unknown assailants while waiting outside their parents' home for a hired car to pick them up and take them to work. Houriya died instantly. Rachida sustained two bullet wounds to the neck, one by each ear. She died in a Paris hospital on March 31. The radical Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed responsibility for her murder.
Mekhlouf Boukzer, Algerian State Television, April 4, 1995, Constantine
Boukzer, a sports commentator for Algerian State Television, was found dead in the trunk of his car near his home in the eastern Algerian city of Constantine. His throat had been slit. Television reports indicated that men disguised as police officers went to the journalist's residence the previous night and ordered him to go with them.
Azzedine Saidj, El-Ouma, May 15, 1995, near Algiers
Saidj, former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct independent weekly E- Ouma, was found dead in his car, about 10 miles east of Algiers. His throat had been slit.
Malika Sabour, Echourouk al-Arabi, May 21, 1995, Reghaia
Sabour, a cultural reporter for the independent Arabic-language weekly Echourouk al-Arabi and a contributor to a number of arts reviews, was shot to death by three men disguised as police officers at her family home in Reghaia, about 15 miles east of Algiers.
Bakhti Benaouda, El-Djoumhouria, May 22, 1995, Oran
Benaouda, a professor of Arabic at Oran University and a frequent contributor to many publications, including the government-run daily El-Djoumhouria, was shot to death in the evening by unknown assailants in the Delmonte quarter of the western city of Oran.
Mourad Hmaizi, Algerian State Television, May 27, 1995, Baraki
Hmaizi, a reporter with Algerian State Television, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen as he was getting out of his car in front of his home in Baraki, a suburb of Algiers.
Ahmed (a.k.a. Hakim) Takouchet, Radio Cirta, June 18, 1995, Constantine
Takouchet, a journalist with Radio Cirta, the state-run station based in the eastern city of Constantine, was kidnapped from his home by four men on the night of June 17 and found with his throat slit the next day.
Naïma Hammouda, Révolution Africaine, August 2, 1995, Saoula
Hammouda, a cultural reporter with the weekly Révolution Africaine and formerly with Le Matin and L'Hebdo Libéré, was shot to death. Her body was discovered near an apartment building where she had been staying in the Algiers suburb of Saoula. She was so disfigured that her remains were not correctly identified until August 11. Earlier, it was mistakenly reported that her remains were those of L'Hebdo Libéré journalist Aïcha Benamar, who used to live in the same building.
Ameur Ouagueni, Le Matin, August 20, 1995, Algiers
Ouagueni, head of the international news department at the French-language independent daily Le Matin, was shot in front of his home in Algiers. He died in a hospital later that night
Saïd Tazrout, Le Matin, September 3, 1995, Tizi-Ouzou
Tazrout, Tizi-Ouzou bureau chief for the French-language daily Le Matin, was shot to death by two unknown gunmen outside his home in Tizi-Ouzou, capital of the Kabylie Region.
Yasmina Brikh, Algerian Radio, September 4, 1995, Algiers
Brikh, a journalist for a cultural program on Algerian Radio, was shot and killed near her home in the Eucalyptus section of Algiers.
Brahim Guaraoui, El-Moudjahid, September 4, 1995, Algiers
Guaraoui, a journalist and cartoonist for the government-run daily El-Moudjahid, was kidnapped and killed. He was found dead near his home in the Eucalyptus section of Algiers
Saïd Brahimi, Algerian State Television, September 9, 1995, Cherarda
Brahimi, a journalist with Algerian State Television, and his wife, Radja, who worked as an administrative assistant at the station, were gunned down in their car in the town of Cherarda, in the Dellys district.
Omar Ouartilan, El-Khabar, October 3, 1995, Algiers
Ouartilan, editor-in-chief of the independent Arabic-language daily El-Khabar, was shot to death at a newsstand near his home in the Belcourt district of Algiers on his way to work at the nearby Maison de la Presse Tahar Djaout. Despite the death threats against all journalists, Ouartilan refused protection and would not change the route he took between his home and office.
Saïda Djebaili, Al-Hayat al-Arabia, October 17, 1995, Algiers
Djebaili, a journalist with the Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat al-Arabia, was killed in Algiers along with her driver, Mustafa Lazar, as she was returning home from work. She was shot several times in the head with automatic weapons.
Hamid Mahiout, Liberté, December 2, 1995, Algiers
Mahiout, a reporter for the independent, French-language daily Liberté, and Ahmed Belkhefellah, his driver, were kidnapped and killed by unknown assailants. They were found dead the following morning in the Rais Hamidou neighborhood in Algiers. Colleagues report that Mahiout and Belkhefellah were decapitated, their heads impaled on spikes and their bodies stacked on top of each other.
Khadija Dahmani, Echourouk al-Arabi, December 5, 1995, Algiers
Dahmani, a reporter for the weekly tabloid Echourouk al-Arabi, was shot dead near her home in Baraki, a stronghold of Islamic fundamentalism in the south of Algiers. She was killed at a bus stop on her way to work. Dahmani was the sixth female journalist killed in Algeria in 1995.
Angola: 1
Ricardo de Mello, Imparcial Fax, January 18, 1995, Luanda
De Mello, director of the privately owned newsletter Imparcial Fax, was gunned down by an unidentified assassin outside his home, in the capital, Luanda. De Mello was shot in the early morning hours on the stairs leading to his apartment. According to his wife, military officials had recently warned de Mello to stop writing about the war.
Azerbaijan: 1
Adil Bunyatov, Reuters TV and Turan News Agency, March 17, 1995, Baku
Bunyatov, a cameraman for Reuters TV and the Turan News Agency, was killed while filming an attack by Azerbaijani government troops on the headquarters of a rebel police unit on the outskirts of the capital, Baku. A report by the Turan News Agency said government censorship introduced in the wake of the rebellion prevented opposition newspapers and the independent media from revealing any details about Bunyatov's death.
Brazil: 4
Zaqueu de Oliveira, Gazeta de Barroso, March 21 1995, Minas Gerais
De Oliveira, editor of the monthly publication Gazeta de Barroso in Minas Gerais, was shot and killed by a local merchant, José Carlos de Souza. The murder apparently stemmed from a dispute about articles the journalist had written concerning de Souza's wife. De Oliveira's mother was also shot and wounded in the attack. De Souza, who remained free while awaiting trial, maintained that he killed de Oliveira in self-defense. De Oliveira's mother, however, claims that she and her family continue to receive death threats from people close to de Souza.
Marcos Borges Ribeiro, Independente, May 1, 1995, Rio Verde
Borges, owner of the monthly publication Independente, was murdered by a police officer in Rio Verde, in the central Brazilian state of Goias. He was shot four times at point-blank range at his home and died on the way to the hospital. According to his wife, who witnessed the murder, he had received death threats after his new and very controversial paper reported on alleged human rights abuses committed by city officials, including the local police.
The police officer, Gláucio dos Reis Santana, confessed to the killing, claimed it was in self-defense, and surrendered to the police a few days after the crime. In the last edition of his paper, Borges had denounced the regional police chief, who is a close friend of dos Reis. Local sources told CPJ that the regional police chief's wife accompanied dos Reis when he murdered Borges. At year's end, dos Reis and the police chief's wife were free on bail awaiting trial, but the chief has not been charged in connection with the murder. Instead, he and several other officers who had been criticized in Borges' articles were transferred to another city.
Aristeu Guida da Silva, A Gazeta de São Fidélis, May 12, 1995, São Fidélis
Guida da Silva, owner of the weekly A Gazeta de São Fidélis in the city of São Fidélis, northwest of Rio de Janeiro, was shot dead in front of his house by two hooded men riding a motorbike. Guida da Silva's father reported that the journalist received death threats for articles he had written accusing the president of the local municipal council of corruption. No one has been apprehended.
Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva, Cachoeiras Jornal, August 29, 1995, São Gonçalo
Coutinho da Silva, owner of the weekly Cachoeiras Jornal in the village of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro, was killed by unknown assassins. The assailants fired 14 shots at close range while the journalist sat in his car at a stoplight in the neighboring town of São Gonçalo. A police investigation revealed several possible motives for the killing, all linked to Coutinho da Silva's work. Motives include his investigation of police corruption, which led to the arrest of a group of officers who have been detained after August 7, and his investigation of a local politician's involvement in an environmental scandal, which he was planning to publish at the time of his murder.
Burundi: 1
Vincent Francis, Worldwide Television News (WTN), April 5, 1995, near Bujumbura
Francis, the Johannesburg bureau chief for the British television news agency WTN, was killed in an ambush 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Bujumbura. His interpreter and driver were also killed, and WTN cameraman Victor Dhlamini was wounded. Dhlamini said their attackers were clearly bandits who "just wanted money" and stole the journalists' cash, television equipment, and other belongings.
Canada: 1
Brian Smith, CJOH-TV, August 1, 1995, Ottawa
Smith, a sportscaster with CJOH-TV and one of the most popular television sports reporters in Toronto, died a day after he was shot in the head by a man waiting in a parking lot outside the station building in Ottawa. When Smith walked out the station's main door after a broadcast, he was gunned down by Jeffrey Arenburg. According to the police, Arenburg bore a grudge against the media and wished to harm a media personality. Arenburg, who turned himself in, had been charged three years earlier with assaulting a man who worked at a radio station in Bridgewater after accusing the station of meddling with his mind and transmitting his "future thoughts."
Colombia: 3
Ivan Darío Pelayo, Llanorámica, August 17, 1995, Puerto Rondón
Pelayo, manager of the radio station Llanorámica in Puerto Rondón, Arauca, was killed by members of the National Liberation Army, a guerrilla group that has been leading an insurgency against the government for the last two decades. The guerrillas broke into the station's studio and shot Pelayo as he was broadcasting a program. They left behind flyers that accused Pelayo of being an enemy of the people and a member of paramilitary groups.
Gabriel Cruz Díaz, El Heraldo, November 11, 1995, Chinu
Cruz Díaz, a correspondent for El Heraldo in the department of Córdoba and a member of the Colombian Academy of History, was stabbed to death in Chinu by unknown assailants. He was working on a book about the military's role in Córdoba, where the Colombian government has been battling leftist insurgents.
Ernesto Acero Cadena, Informador Socioeconómico, December 12, 1995, Armenia
Acero, director of the weekly economics bulletin Informador Socioeconómico and a veteran reporter, was killed in Armenia, Quindío, by an unknown assailant who shot him three times on the street and then fled. No one has been apprehended. Acero's colleagues believe his murder may be related to his outspoken stance against corruption and his decade-long career as a journalist. Acero was the former Armenia regional director for the national radio network Radio Caracol and a former reporter for Radio Cadena Nacional.
Croatia: 1
John Schofield, BBC, August 9, 1995, Virginmost
Schofield, a radio reporter for the BBC, was shot and killed by fire from Croat forces. Schofield and three colleagues from the BBC were traveling from Zagreb to Bihac in an armored vehicle. Unaware that they were in an unsecure zone, the journalists left their vehicle to film houses burning in the village of Vrginmost. Croat soldiers opened fire but immediately stopped when the crew shouted, "We are press!" Two of Schofield's colleagues were slightly wounded in the incident.
Dominican Republic: 1
Juan Carlos Vásquez, Ultima Hora, July 2, 1995, near Santo Domingo
Vásquez, a sports reporter with the afternoon daily Ultima Hora, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer after a dispute over a hit-and-run accident. Vásquez, Ultima Hora photographer Victor Abreu Peña, and a cameraman were returning from Santo Domingo where they had covered a jet-ski competition when their jeep collided with a public minibus. According to witnesses, the three journalists then followed the minibus, which had driven away from the scene of the accident. When the minibus finally stopped, Vásquez began talking with the bus driver and a man got off, identified himself as a police officer, and drew his gun.
After Vásquez allegedly asked the officer to explain why the accident occurred and told the cameraman to film him wielding his gun, the officer shot Vásquez twice without warning. He also shot and wounded Peña, who was trying to help the fallen Vásquez. The officer then tried to shoot the cameraman who was filming the exchange. The three journalists had been traveling in a jeep belonging to a television station, and the vehicle was clearly marked with the station's logo. The officer, who was subsequently dismissed from his job, was arrested and at year's end was in prison awaiting trial on charges of murder.
India: 1
Mushtaq Ali, Agence France-Presse and Asian News International, September 10, 1995, Srinagar
Ali, a photographer for Agence France-Presse and a camera operator for Asian News International, was killed when a letter bomb addressed to Yusuf Jameel, Srinagar correspondent for the BBC and Reuters, exploded in his hands on September 7. Ali opened the package, which had been delivered to Jameel's office by an unidentified woman wearing a black burqa, while Jameel was on the phone. The explosion severed Ali's left hand, disfigured his face, and severely injured his right hand and abdomen. He died three days later.
Mexico: 1
Ruperto Armenta Gerardo, El Regional, February 5, 1995, Guasave
Armenta, editor of the Guasave-based weekly El Regional in Sinaloa, was beaten to death by the lawyer Felipe de Jesús Lizárraga. His body was dumped in a canal near Guasave. Lizárraga, who was an acquaintance of Armenta and was driving with him in the car that was found at the scene, originally claimed that police agents attacked them. But because of contradictions in his statement and other circumstantial evidence, the lawyer was charged with the murder and detained.
Soon after, however, Lizárraga, then the president of the Lawyer's Guild of Sinaloa, was freed, setting off demonstrations by local journalists, who believe he killed Armenta after a fight about articles the journalist had written about him. As a result of the demonstrations, Lizárraga was rearrested and put on trial. On November 18, he was convicted and sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison and fined 11,000 nuevos pesos ($1,200) Lizárraga appealed the sentence.
Russia: 8
Vladimir Zhitarenko, Krasnaya Zvezda, January 1, 1995, Grozny
On December 31, 1994, Zhitarenko, a correspondent for the Russian armed forces daily Krasnaya Zvezda, was hit by two bullets as he stepped out of an armored personnel carrier on a front line near the Chechen capital of Grozny. He died the next day.
Jochen Piest, Stern, January, 10, 1995, Chervlyonna
Piest, a correspondent for the German newsmagazine Stern, was killed in a suicide attack by a Chechen rebel in the village of Chervlyonna, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of the Chechen capital, Grozny. The rebel was firing his submachine gun as he drove a small diesel locomotive at high speed toward an empty Russian troop train parked on the track. Piest was fatally hit by three bullets. Rossiskaya Gazeta correspondent Vladimir Sorokin was wounded in the attack. The gunman died when the locomotive collided with the military train.
Viatcheslav Rudnev, free-lancer, February 17, 1995, Kaluga
Rudnev, a free-lance journalist who worked in Kaluga, a district outside of Moscow, was found on February 13 in the hallway of his apartment building with a serious skull injury. He died four days later in the local hospital. Rudnev was known for his exposés of corruption and the criminal underworld, which were published in regional newspapers such as Znamya (Flag) and Vest (News). Rudnev had apparently received death threats prior to the incident and had reported them to the local police.
Vladislav Listyev, Russian Public Television (OTR), March 1, 1995, Moscow
Listyev, executive director of the newly formed public television station OTR, was shot dead as he entered his block of apartments. Listyev was one of Russia's best-known TV journalists. Some observers suspect his murder is connected to a controversy over whether to permit advertising on the new network.
Farkhad Kerimov, Associated Press TV, May 29, 1995, Chechnya
Kerimov, a cameraman with Associated Press TV, was shot dead in Chechnya. He was reported missing on May 27, and his body was found on May 29.
Natalya Alyakina, Focus and RUFA, June 17, 1995, Budyonnovsk
Alyakina, a journalist with dual Russian-German citizenship who was working for the German weekly magazine Focus and the radio news service RUFA, was killed by a Russian soldier. Russian army officials had given her permission to cross an army checkpoint leading into the southern city of Budyonnovsk, where she was going to report on a mass hostage taking by Chechen rebels, but she was shot shortly after passing through the roadblock.
Shamkhan Kagirov, Rossiskaya Gazeta and Vozrozheniye, December 13, 1995, near Grozny
Kagirov, a reporter for the Moscow daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta and the local paper Vozrozheniye, was shot and killed in an ambush in Chechnya. Kagirov and three local police officers were traveling in a car near Grozny when they were attacked. The three officers were also killed.
Vadim Alferyev, Segodnyashnyaya Gazeta, December 27, 1995, Krasnoyarsk
Alferyev, a crime reporter with Segodnyashnyaya Gazeta in Krasnoyarsk, was beaten to death in the entrance of his apartment building. Alferyev was writing about economic crimes in the region and had received repeated threats.
Somalia: 1
Marcello Palmisano, RAI, February 9, 1995, Mogadishu
Palmisano, a cameraman for Italy's public television station, RAI, was shot and killed on the road to the Mogadishu airport, where he and reporter Carmen Lasorella were going to cover the withdrawal of United Nations troops. It is believed that the attack on the two Italians was part of a dispute called the "banana war" between two rival banana export firms, Somalfruit and Sombana. The journalists were riding in a car belonging to Somalfruit when gunmen riding in Sombana's "technical"—a vehicle mounted with heavy weapons—attacked them. Witnesses report that Palmisano was mistaken for a Somalfruit executive.
Tajikstan: 1
Mohyedin Alempour, BBC, December 12, 1995, Dushanbe
Alempour, head of the BBC's Persian Service bureau in Tajikistan, was found dead near the University of Tajikistan in Dushanbe with a bullet wound to his head. Nothing had been stolen from him, even though he was wearing a gold ring and carrying his documents.
Turkey: 1
Sayfettin Tepe, Yeni Politika, August 29, 1995, Batman
Tepe, a correspondent for the banned Yeni Politika newspaper in the southeastern city of Batman, was taken into custody on August 22. Four days later he was moved to the Bitlis Security Directorate. He died in custody on August 29. His family was told that he committed suicide but rejects that official explanation.
Ukraine: 1
Vladimir Ivanov, The Glory of Sevastopol, April 18, 1995, Sevastopol
Ivanov, editor-in-chief of the Sevastopol local daily The Glory of Sevastopol, was fatally injured when a bomb, triggered by remote control, exploded in a garbage can outside his home on April 14. He was taken to a local hospital where he underwent three operations and had his legs amputated. He died four days after the explosion.
Ivanov was an ethnic Russian, and his paper's editorial line supported greater autonomy for the predominantly Russian population of Crimea. Shortly before his death, Ivanov had begun a campaign in his newspaper denouncing the Crimean mafia and protesting the construction of an oil refinery by a Ukrainian-Swedish company. His newspaper had also recently published several articles supporting the creation of a free trade zone in Sevastopol, a plan that was expected to strengthen Crimean autonomy.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1
Sasa Kolevski, Bosnian Serb Television, September 23, 1995, Mount Ozren
Kolevski, a cameraman for Bosnian Serb Television in Banja Luka, and the station's driver, Goran Pejcinovic, disappeared on September 23, 1995 while covering fighting on Mount Ozren. The Bosnian Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that the two were killed in cross fire during the fighting. The Bosnian Serb news agency, SRNA, claims that they were killed while in custody of Bosnian Muslims. According to a Bosnian Serb Television reporter who was riding with them at the time of the incident, Bosnian troops shot at their vehicle, seriously wounding or killing Kolevski and Pejcinovic. Pejcinovic's body was returned to Bosnian Serb authorities on October 25
Burundi: 1
Pamphile Simbizi, National Radio and Television of Burundi, June 7, 1995, Bujumbura
Simbizi, director of the French radio section of the state-run National Radio and Television of Burundi, was stabbed to death by soldiers of unknown affiliation in the Gasenyi district of Bujumbura. Simbizi was part of the moderate Hutu movement.
Guatemala: 1
Alberto Antoniotti Monge, El Gráfico, January 29, 1995, Guatemala City
Monge, a columnist for the daily El Gráfico and president of the Broadcasters Association, was gunned down by five unknown men in front of his home, located north of Guatemala City. At the time of his death, Monge was also serving as a press attaché for Public Prosecutor Ramses Cuestas Gómez, who was investigating top military officials for alleged corruption and criminal activity
Russia: 4
Maxim Chabalin, Nevskoye Vremya, March 1995, Place unknown
Felix Titov, Nevskoye Vremya, March 1995, Place unknown
Chabalin, assistant political editor of the St. Petersburg daily Nevskoye Vremya, and Titov, a photographer for the paper, were reported missing in Chechnya. They left Nazran on February 27 for their fifth trip to the breakaway republic since fighting began there. According to Nevskoye Vremya's editor-in-chief, the journalists were due back on March 4. But they were not heard from since and are presumed dead.
Sergei Ivanov, Nevskoye Vremya, date unknown, Place unknown
Ivanov, a correspondent for St. Petersburg daily Nevskoye Vremya, was last seen by his colleagues on June 16, 1995, when he left for the Oryokhnov Region of Chechnya. Ivanov was going to look for Nevskoye Vremya journalists Maxim Chabalin and Felix Titov, who had not been heard from since February 27, 1995. By year's end, Ivanov's colleagues still had not heard from him, and they fear he may have been killed.
Andrew Shumack, free-lancer, date unknown, Place unknown
Shumack, an American free-lance journalist, was last seen on July 28, 1995 when he left the Chechen capital, Grozny, and headed toward the surrounding mountainous area. On July 20, The St. Petersburg Press, an English-language newspaper, had provided Shumack with a letter of introduction to help him obtain press credentials. In return, Shumack was to give them photographs and stories for three months. He is feared to be dead because no one from the newspaper has heard from him since, and U.S. Embassy officials have not been able to locate him despite repeated trips to the region.
Ukraine: 1
Viktor Frelix, free-lance journalist and publisher, June 2, 1995, L'vov
Frelix, a publisher and founder of the ecological group Green World of Ukraine, died in L'vov of poisoning. He had been investigating the military's connection with an epidemic in the city of Chernovtsy and had alleged that the illnesses resulted from the city's proximity to a military base. The Ukrainian prosecutor stated that Frelix's death was the result of a terrorist act. Colleagues report that the day before he died, Frelix obtained further evidence relevant to his investigation. The autopsy concluded that the cause of the publisher's death was kidney failure caused by poisoning.
Uganda: 1
Hussein Musa Njuki, Assalaam, August 28, 1995, Kampala
Njuki, editor of the opposition weekly newsletter Assalaam, died in police custody in a hospital. He had been arrested three days earlier and was immediately taken to the Criminal Investigations Division. While CPJ received several different reports regarding his arrest and death, it is certain that he was taken into custody by a group of plainclothes officers from the Anti-Robbery Squad, an extension of the government's Internal Security Organization (ISO). One source claimed that Njuki had been suffering from a debilitating illness, the effects of which were fatally exacerbated by the shock of the ISO squad's ambush. Another source reported that Njuki was in perfect health before the arrest and was beaten to death by ISO agents. Yet another report contended that he collapsed during an attempt to escape and died in the hospital of a heart attack. A police guard remained in Njuki's hospital room throughout his stay.
United Kingdom: 1
Tarsem Singh Purewal, Desh Pardesh, January 24, 1995, London
Purewal, editor and publisher of Punjabi-language newspaper Desh Pardesh, was shot and killed near his newspaper's office in London's Southall neighborhood. Desh Pardesh is Britain's largest circulation Punjabi-language newspaper. Purewal supported a Sikh homeland but was critical of the tactics employed by some to achieve this end.
In 1998, Tara Singh Hayer the publisher of the Punjabi-language Indo-Canadian Times, was shot dead in the garage of his home. He too had been an outspoken critic of violent Sikh fundamentalism both in Canada and India. In a 1998 letter to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, CPJ wrote these two murders suggest possible coordinated action to silence Sikh journalists who criticize fundamentalism.